Jos: can you elaborate a bit more on what you are doing exactly
(which settings) etc. and HOW you are listening to this on your PC
and on your living room surround set?

That is correct, but there is a nother possability. Copy it to the
clipboard (button is next to the save one) and do a paste in a
photo program or other graphics application that allows saving
to an uncompressed program. I do it all the time like this in
combination with the great viewer IrfanView.

Also upgrade to the latest 5 version if you haven't done so already.

1- You can get better quality with WIndows Media Encoder (free download). Or you could just export Windows Media through Vegas. It generally looks better than Quicktime. With Quicktime, you have to pay money for the pro codecs (mainly the Sorenson3 one) to be in the same playing field as Windows Media 8/9.

With quicktime, use the 1mbps preset but try not contraining the bitrate. That might help?

You can ofcourse use the free sorenson codec. Did you use this
one or another one? At what resolution are you encoding?

Whether or not the letterboxing will show up in your QT file
depends on your output resolution setting. Make sure it matches
your project settings.

Are you talking about the custom properties? There was a big
in an older version but it might still be in the plugin where it
would not open. I hope Edward remembers this trick. You also
need to have a serial number for the mpeg encoder I believe?

Need a few more details. You can't change the bitrate in DVDA or Vegas? Are you rendering in Vegas? What Preset are you using? As long as you have a valid MPEG2 file AND the file is small enough, DVDA would NOT recompress it.

well i'm having a problem cutting. for example if i have a 60 second clip and i cut from :30 to :35 seconds my video will cut out, but then my audio from :30-:35 will STILL be there for some weird reason. then now the two separate clips from :00 to :30 is crossfaded with :35-60. it's so weird....

I have just released an update to the Veggie Toolkit with several enhancements to MultiRender and Capture Cutter and a new tool called Clip Logger.

Clip Logger can be used to import shot lists from comma or tab delimited text files into Vegas as offline media clips. You can then Recapture all Offline Media and capture the desired shots from tape using Vegas Capture. In addition, you can export the media pool clip information to a delimited text file.

Details can be found at:

http://www.peachrock.com/software/downloads/veggie-toolkit/download.html

Thanks forall of the feedback and encouragement!

Randall

After you split, when you delete, you need to delete BOTH pieces. One other thing to check is to verify that "Ignore Event Grouping" is NOT turned on.

yes the ignore event grouping is not turned on but what do you mean i need to delete both audio and video tracks both? i've had times when i highlighted a section of a clip and then pressed control+x and it would cut both audio and video. how come there are still other times where i have to go in and cut video and THEN audio?

Sounds great Randall! Thank you.

I'm reviving this again. Since my last post on this thread, I've probably gone through three hard drives (that's a whole other story), the point being that each time I reinstalled a new drive, and I had to reinstall Vegas.

I'm having this reverb issue again. ALL other effects work, but reverb just does nothing, for some reason. . .whether apply it to a single event (non-real time FX), or to the entire track. . .bupkiss.

Anyone? Anyone?

That depends on how you have selected things I believe. If you
have just the track selected on which you work it will just delete
from there. You can even make it cut only that track if you want
to. It is hard to describe and show virtually <g>

what i do is move the cursor to right above where the timecode is for the clips and then highly both audio and video track sections of where i want to 'cut' (ctrl+x or delete button). and at times when i get lucky i can cut, but on this particular project (which happens to be 4 hrs+) i've been running into problems where i have cut it (pressing either ctrl+x or delete button) but it doesn't even cut it for me... i'm sitting there with a question mark above my head... what the heck an editor that doens't cut when i tell it to? i have the latest revisions of vegas from the web. my gears are no prob. i just dunno if it's a config that i'm missing or i'm doing somn wrong.

Is this Vegas 4 or 5 and on what OS etc.?

I know that some programs, when they deinterlace and convert to 24p, do not loose resolution on the screen. Is that the same thing for Vegas 5.0? Or do you get a lower resolution image?

Is the hard drive rattling like crazy at that point in time?

dunno where you got your info. you'll ALWAYS get a loss in rez when you de-interlace. It happens 'cuz there's just no more vertical rez to be had. Ya can't create something from nothing. Deinterlacing works by either duplicating the existing frame or interpolating between the frame scanlines. There's no other way to generate the info. Since each field is separated in time by 1/60th of a second the info in each field is not useable to "detemporalize" your frames.

Actually, a lot of the software and companies out there like DVFilm Maker claim to do it.

http://www.dvfilm.com/maker/index.htm

It is about 1/5 the way down.

all these guys use their own proprietary interpolating algorithmns. despite their claims, you WILL lose vertical rez on de-interlacing. It's a law of physics...can't create something from nothing. I've played with the DVFilmmaker software and vegas can do better.

That is interesting. These places are charging a hell of a lot to be lying about what they can do. Of course, in this inustry, anything is possible.

Could they perhaps be taking one frame of horiontal and combing it with one frame of vertical?

Thanks for the suggestions. I have realized that Vegas and Cleaner XL with the Sorenson 3 Pro codec are not very good at producing high quality QT files. I have started to use Sorenson Squeeze and find that it beats everything else by a huge margin. I was very surprised that the same codec could produce such different results in different applications, but I'm totally sold on Sqeeze's ease of use and high quality output.

well, dunno if i'd call it out and out "lying". Perhaps salesmanship or marketting is more appropriate. His(DVFilm) statement is true for horizontal rez. Each field is a horizontal scan composed of field lines that are captured 1/60th second apart. The fields are then combined to form a single image frame. You can't see the combing unless there is rapid horizontal motion. In this case, the vertical edges of objects exhibit the "combing" effect since each alternating scan line is not acquired at the same instant in time.

The vegas method of de-interlacing that most closely duplicates the method used by DVFilm is described here:http://www.100fps.com/


Douglas Spotted Eagle also has a tutorial on how to de-interlace, but, I can't find it. Basically, you duplicate your video track. Render the first track to the upper field. Render your duplicate second track to the lower field. Place the rendered tracks one above the other and set the opacity to 50% on the top track. Render to one track.

I just noticed your in Santa Fe too. Small world we live in.

I'll read that. The way this got started was a client asked me if Sony could like this company, and I wasn't sure. I always thought that you would loose some resolution, but after reading what these companys say, I wasn't sure.

Hmmm.

Veritas Media Prodcutions
Santa Fe NM

maybe i am crazy, but i could have sworn maybe a year or so ago i saw a tutorial on how to make text that appears to be "written" onto the screen. ive searched here and CCow under numerous keywords, but alas ive come up short. (i also tried searching all forums, thinking maybe it was under Premiere or something else)

im positively sure i saw something here...can someone verify ...that im not crazy...please.


thanks again ladies and gentlemen!

Hey gang,

October 5-7 is the DMDC conference in tandem with the Government Expo conference. I'm the track chair for the audio tools, and will be presenting Vegas, Soundtrack, ACID, plus audio for video tracks. Mike Chenoweth and Jeffrey Fisher will be part of our team as well. If you can make it to DC, this is a great event with fabulous sessions.

You can see/learn more http://www.digitalmediadc.com/DMDC.shtml>

Lots going on there, with all the heavyweights of the biz. Come check out the VASST team in action!

I'm with you there, Barry. Squeeze will yield great results with very little work. Great program.

It used to be that Cleaner + the sorenson pro codec was better than squeeze since you could do 2-pass VBR with Cleaner. I'm not sure if that's still true.

I remember one that described using a gradient created in Photoshop and changing the luminance in order to get the text to appear on the screen. You may also be able to achieve this by using the new bezier masking tools. Also, a simple wipe may be effective.

Windows XP has everything hidden after the filename, so you cant see the file type (.mp3, .doc, .jpg etc.) so you have to go in and enable this function so you CAN see the extensions.

This is done by first opening My Computer

Then at the top chooser click tools and choose Folder Options

You will then get the Folder Options dialog box in front of you. On the tabs at the top, click on View then look for Hide File Extensions for known types then UNcheck this box.

Click Apply, then OK and you're done.

Go to the file you are looking to change, right click on it, and choose Rename.

a simple wipe would more or less reveal the title at a even pace, i kinda did something like that for a school project recently at the beginning: http://www.video-visions.us/demos/newhoriztrailer.wmv

i am doing my first wedding vid for my buddies sister and i want to create a script-looking text (cursive, almost handwritten) and then have it appear as if it was being written on screen. note that this would be a small amount of tect, such as "cliff & vicki." i imagine this would take a good deal of work even with just a few words...

perhaps the gradient / bezier idea would be better...i dont suppose you have that on your in your TTS section do you edward?

No I don't and just happened to remember something might have been written by "GG". Found this:

http://www.creativecow.net/forum/read_post.php?postid=106457421738215&forumid=24&highlight=gradient&archive=_2003|3|2

Thanks again Mark!
Actually I dont think I have to change it after all , I just forgot to set "Transport" in Vegas and therefor spent a couple hours stumbling around trying to figure out how to get the rendered project back to the CU VH1.

Have you tried Cineforms software with Vegas to see if it helps in editing? Is it worth a 1/2K, I am trying it in a free download with Adobe Premiere Pro right now but I really cant stand Adobes sluggishness as compared to the ease of Vegas and so I find myself limping around slowly in Adobe like I was a couple years ago when I discovered how nice Vegas was.

I am thinking about purchasing Connect HD from�@cineform as well. I posted a thread asking for comments about the performance levels and if it really does what cineform says it does but I had only one reply. I am also using the Adobe one as a try out. It seems to speed up adobe very well but from what I have read the vegas version isnt as fast. I will probably wait until their is a downloadable demo to try. 500 bucks is a little steep for a blind purchase.

superb, thanks for the response...unfortunately the main editing machine is clogged up with rendering...so i will have to give this whirl tomorrow...

thanks Edward! you are the man!

I thing there is a veg on the sundance site that does this.

U can use Bezier Masking for a more finite approach... very elegant and keyframed :)

<<<-- Originally posted by Glenn Chan : It used to be that Cleaner + the sorenson pro codec was better than squeeze since you could do 2-pass VBR with Cleaner. I'm not sure if that's still true. -->>>

Glenn, I did direct comparisons using the 2-pass VBR encoding of Cleaner XL + Sorenson Pro 3 codec vs. Squeeze + Sorenson Pro 3 codec. The results weren't even close--in favor of Squeeze. I used to use Cleaner, but Squeeze has far surpassed the quality. I spent 10 hours tweaking Cleaner and ouputting many test files and couldn't achieve what took only two tries and 30 minutes in Squeeze. After outputting some extremely good WM9 files from Squeeeze, I will be uninstalling Cleaner. I had thought maybe I could skip a step and output directly from Vegas--but it turns out to be a poor option.

I didn't know that!

By the way, how does sorenson3 compare to Windows Media 9?

I'm wondering:
A- Is it possible?
B- What hardware would I need to do this? (i.e. which serial control adapter/thingamabobber would I need)
C- How do I set it up in Vegas.

The whole point of this would be to make master with proper timecode (program starts at 1:00:00;00 or whatever with slate and bars before).

If you asked me a year ago, I would have said that WM9 beat QT (w/any codec) by a large margin. However, with Sorenson Squeeze, the quality for similar rates of compression seems fairly close. I've just been working with one file so far, so that's not enough to say anything definitive, but I'm reconsidering my opinions on QT files. I'll throw the WM9 file up on my web site tonight and you can compare for yourself--I've already got the QT file posted. (I'll post the url after uploading the file).

Douglas,
Washington is a bit off the track for me at that time. But can you point me to some information on Acid Pro for someone who's old enough to think loops are what you do with airplanes?
I am familiar with composing, I use Finale and I am also used to lay out music on a midi sequencer. Every time I try to figure out what Acid has to offer me I get the feeling 1. They are selling to people who can't compose music but only wants to add some music-like bed behind their video. 2. They are selling to the generation that was born and bred by people I went to school with. I'm in neither group. Point me to some good information, please.

Can't speak for Vegas, but in Avid you can use a "rossetta stone"

Cool, I'll try to make it.

Hi again.

My setup is a P4 3.0GHz with a Creative Audigy 2 and Logitech 5300 5.1 speakers. The speakers are calibrated using the Audigy THX setup routines. The living room surround set is a Pioneer Cs100 reciever and Sequence speakers with an AMC Sub. All calibrated using a sound meter.

Software is Vegas 5.0b with Sony Surround plugin.

I have been nosing around the dolby website just to get more into the AC3 tech. What I have found out so far can be summarized this way.

- The AC3 codec is more than just data compression. There is also an audio expander in play when the AC3 audio is played back.

- The expander at playback takes two parameters (well more actually, but for simplicity's sake I'll say two). These are Dialog normalization and profile. Profile gives the characteristics for the expander and the DN-parameter is used to "calibrate" the expander.

- The DN parameter should be set to the RMS-value of the encoded signal.

- There is no need to mix anything for the LFE-channel, as the decoder automatically will direct low frequencies to the subwoofer. The name implies what it should be used for Low frequency effects. The odd atom bomb in your soundtrack!

- Since Vegas does not do AC3-encoding for monitoring, then it is impossible to determine if the encoded AC3-tracn will sound OK.

OK these are my assumptions. I have found no way of determine RMS-value for the soundtrack in Vegas. And the DN-parameter stays at the standard -27 dB, no matter what. Meaning that Vegas does not automatically calculate a value for DN. Would have been nifty if it did.

So the big task is to find the correct RMS-value and feed it to the AC3-encoder.

And I have found a way. When I have mixed the soundtrack using the stereo downmix feature, so it sounds good in stereo as well, I encode to Microsoft Media 8 5.1 audio. This file is fed to Sound Forge 7.0, where the Statistics function is used to get a RMS value.

The WMA-codec is intelligent, so it will automatically down mix to 2.0 from 5.1. And it seems to get it right, as the RMS-value I get here and stuff into the DN-parameter for the AC3-encoding is working very fine, when I finnaly encode to AC3.

I am using the Film Light" profile as it got less compression that the FilmNormal profile. I have tried with the Film Normal profile as well, and so far no pumping or other audio-defects.

This is of course a somewhat strange workflow. I will be more than happy for any improvements/suggestions, but it works!
I find it very strange that Sony does not give any possibilities to get the RMS-value for the soundtrack in Vegas. Without this the AC3-encoder is useless!

And I am somewhat puzzled that nobody has done a "5.1 audio for dummies". In my search for information in Sonys Vegas forums, in these forums and on Doom9 and DV.com the most common reaction to question about settings in AC3-encoding is to reference to the Dolby site.

But all their documentation are more or less assuming that you sit in Skywalker ranch with equipment for a zillion dollars. It does not cater for people with a Soundblaster and a set of pc-speakers.

Since it seems that the available Vegas books do not go in any detail about 5.1 mixing (as far as I can determine. Deepest apologies if I am wrong), then somebody could do us all a favor by digging into the subject.

I am not an expert, but after tweaking my surround set up in the living room, testing Vegas/DVD-A dvd's on it I can give you some info that might be helpful:

THE SUBWOOFER / LFE-CHANNEL
Are you sure about the subwoofer channel? There are 2 ways a subwoofer can be connected to a surround amplifier:
using the LFE output or (if the subwoofer is an active system like my REL Quake subwoofer) plugging them into the L+R speakeroutputs together with the wires that go to the L+R front speakers. (I my case, I connected my REL both ways, I think I was advised to do so. ) The first way only plays bass tones if the AC3 signal contains subwoofer info, or with non AC3 data the amplifier decides for itself which info goes to the subwoofer and it lowers the bass info that goes to the L+R speakers. The second way the subwoofer gets full spectrum audio info and it calculates the bass sound it has to play from that info. In this setup the surround amplifier does not alter the original sound. You don't have to miss the specific LFE info in the AC3 data if your amplifier has an option to re-route the LFE-info to the L+R frontspeakers in cases where there isn't a subwoofer. If you don't have that option then you won't hear the specific LFE bass info from AC3 data, only the bass sound the subwoofer calculated from the L+R info in the AC3 data.
If you render to AC3 (5.1) in Vegas I think there is an option to include a specific LFE track, but I also think you have to enable the LFE track in your project within Vegas. Check your settings. I have done several projects and am always very keen om getting "film like" bass sound from my REL Quake when playing a dvd ;-)

COMPRESSION / AC3 RENDERING
I never use the compression setting like "Film Light" etc. I always thought that this option was harming the dynamics in the final AC3 info but never did an A-B test to be sure. So I always change these two menu-options to None (there are two parameters).

5.1 MONITORING BEFORE RENDERING
I use a M-Audio Delta 410 soundcard and a NAD surround amplifier with my pc, connected with 6 outputs to the NAD to get a nice monitoring before rendering. I used this new setup for one small project so far, but am very pleased with the monitoring quality, compared to the AC3 sound files afterwards. But you use it for music and I for soundmixing for my film projects, so no doubt you listen with "other ears" then I do.

WORKFLOW
I monitor the way I described above. When working on a short movie project, I often make a test dvd with video and 5.1 audio, to check the way how my work is progressing on 2 places: on my pc using the other (basic) pc soundcard with Dell surround speakers and on the surround setup (Sony ES-series) in the living room. Regarding the 5.1 audio mixing I find two things difficult: keep the volume of the LFE audio right and the loudness of the center speaker.

Check this discussion: it might has some info for you you like to read:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28496&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

Regards,
Peter

when captureing a tape using vegas scene detection, vegas asks for a tape name and then automatically names the detected scenes: "clip 001", "clip 002", "clip 003", etc.

my question: is it possible to tell vegas to name the first detected clip: "clip 078" rather than: "clip 001". and then continue naming the clips to follow: "clip 079", "clip 080", "clip 081"... and so on?

Check this out- this is my disc after capturing roughly 6 tapes (2-cams) from my most recent wedding...


http://www.msprotege.com/members/LazerBlueP5/Disc%20After%20Vegas%20Capture.jpg


After it was finished defragging it alerted me that two files couldn't be defragged...they were both really long clips- one at 12gigs and the other at 11. I'm assuming there wasn't enough space to compress the other files to make room to move these two without re-fragmenting them.



Why does Vegas Capture always fragment all my captures like this?!

Vegas Capture doesn't. Window XP (or 2K or NT) DOES.